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Elder’s Association Meeting

Chair, Marie Kuykendall, called the meeting to order at 10:10 am. Present were Vernon Martin, Leslie Ramczyk, Vera Homeskye, Clara Jalowitz, Vicky Jerome, Lorraine Smith, Dorothy Sharon, Faith Smith and […]

Chair, Marie Kuykendall, called the meeting to order at 10:10 am.  Present were Vernon Martin, Leslie Ramczyk, Vera Homeskye, Clara Jalowitz, Vicky Jerome, Lorraine Smith, Dorothy Sharon, Faith Smith and Mona Ingerson.

January Minutes.  Lorraine moved to accept the January minutes, seconded by Vera.  Motion passed unanimously.

Announcements

  • People have seen Border Patrol SUV’s in Hayward. People at Ho-Chunk have reported being stopped and asked for ID. Let people here know to carry a tribal ID all the time.
  • Two members reported attending Trivia Night at the golf course. There were 7 teams competing for 3 winning places which paid $75, $50 or $25. The dinner cost $15. It was a fun evening.
  • Mark will come to one of our Constitution meetings to change the administrators of the FB site.
  • The St. Croix River Group would like to work with the tribe to teach about environmental issues impacting our water.

TGB Monitors' Report

  • The tribe needs to have 2 consecutive years of clean audits to get off high risk status.
  • The question was raised about who monitors the pipeline installed by Enbridge. Mark Thayer is supposed to be checking. We will invite Mark to come to the next Elder Council meeting to share what he does in this regard.
  • The tribe has engaged in an aggressive land buy-back effort. If there is not enough money in the stumpage account for land purchase, it is borrowed from the Enbridge account with interest.
  • The question was raised about the fentanyl project. Quite a bit of money has been spent. What has been achieved?
  • The shelter on Haskin has two wings. One serves as an emergency shelter including emancipated teens and the other accommodates families.
  • Dave Anderson proposed taking over the Hideout to set up a high-end restaurant and gaming. He also suggested building a hotel by the golf course and closing the Grindstone Creek casino, since it is not profitable. He suggested using the space to put exercise equipment.

Elder Center

  • Mary is still cleaning up problems created by the lack of a director for such a long period. For example, a grant for $45,000 that was paying the salary of one staff member was approved and available but it was not drawn down. The staff member continued to be paid but the tribe did not have the grant in-hand. Another example, matching funds required for one of their grants was not documented due to changes in how LCO tracks and codes matching funds. Charges for gas at the Quick Stop made by the Elder Center were not billed for 2 years. Jimmie Smith has been helpful in getting billing up to date. This will put a strain on resources since the Elder Center will have to pay 2023 debts to the Quick Stop with 2025 funds.
  • The Will Caravan will be at LCO on May 22nd.
  • Getting information from federal sources has been difficult to get since the government closed web sites and not enough personnel are available to answer questions.
  • A dementia care specialist was hired, someone who has an impressive background in the field and is an effective counselor.
  • The telephone system at the Elder Center still does not work. It is best to call direct numbers of staff since the central system isn’t working.
  • The Elder Center is working on improving meals for recipients with special dietary needs.

 

Lorraine moved to adjourn the meeting at 12:12pm, seconded by Lori.  Motion passed unanimously.